Chapter 16:
Occupied

 

      Tiffany did not expect him to propose at all. She really thought that he had bad news for her and trembled all day from anticipating it. How was he able to change his mind? Just yesterday, they were feeling awkward watching a variety show talk about a troublesome marriage, now he wanted to marry her? She worried about too many things and they were all for nothing!

      Since TaeYeon was left hanging, he nervously added, “I’m sorry it took me too long to do this. I know you’ve waited and waited, and I honestly couldn’t forgive myself for telling you I wasn’t ready. B-but I know now without a doubt that the only thing I really want is to be with you, and I…”

      Tiffany got to overwhelmed that her eyes brimmed heavily with tears of joy. She cupped her hands on his cheeks and kissed him passionately to shut him up. TaeYeon became startled for a moment as he felt Tiffany’s lips hot on his. He could still go on with a whole speech, but it seemed like Tiffany didn’t really need that. “I’ll take that as a yes then,” he thought and closed his eyes to kiss her back.

      “Okay, hold on for a sec,” TaeYeon said, feeling things were getting heated up before he could even give her the ring. “Will you give me your hand?” Tiffany shyly tucked her chin in as she handed her left hand to TaeYeon. TaeYeon slid the cold, silver ring on her ring finger and the diamond sparkled before her eyes. She giggled and grinned like a little girl seeing the pinkish glow. Her now fiancé chuckled seeing how adorable she looked raving over her favorite color. Her obsession towards the pink diamond almost took her out of reality almost in the same way he obsessed about new guitars. She looked too cute at the moment that he could not help but tease,

      “It looks like you love that pink diamond more than me now.”

      “Of course not,” Tiffany chuckled and hugged him tightly. “I love you more than pink and diamonds.”

***

      The door swung open in Tiffany’s home with a loud slam and the couple hurriedly took off their drenched coats as they made-out like there was no tomorrow. They undressed each other from their winter skins while their faces stayed distinctly close together. When shirts and jeans were the only covering layer left, TaeYeon stretched his leg backwards to kick the door shut without taking his naughty eyes all over her body. Tiffany seductively beckoned TaeYeon to come closer as she clasped onto his shirt, and when he moved towards her, he extended his arm to warm himself up by tracing the curve of her hips. Then he wrapped his arms around her without warning, making her body crash onto him. She bit her lip finding that move so arousing. Slowly, their lips touch again, sinking in the sweetness of the moment. After a week of not being so engulfed in each other, this was absolutely bliss. How good it was to be this close together again! It wasn’t long before all the cravings of their bodies spiked up with no restrictions and they almost wouldn’t care if they ate each other up outside of their bedroom.

      “Ahem,” Eunji cleared and the couple’s hearts jumped as if they just heard a ghost. “Are you guys filming a Hollywood movie there or something? You guys know I’m here, right?” She was lying on the couch reading a book so quietly that they did not notice she was there. She honestly did not care about what was going on and planned not to disturb them at first, but it sounded like they didn’t have the patience to at least run to somewhere more private.

      She sat upright and saw her parents’ horrified faces.

      “Wha! Eunji! I-I thought you were in Xiah Dragon Noodles?” TaeYeon stammered.

      “Um, hello? It’s 9 PM right now, you guys. I already ate dinner since I was tired of waiting for the both of you. I mean do you know how many times I called you both? Sheesh, sometimes I wonder who the real teenagers are here.”

      The two turned so red in embarrassment. They really thought they were all alone in the house. Proposing to Tiffany and taking her out on a date definitely made him lose track of time and space. They hung their head low and distanced themselves for a few inches to restrain from displaying too much affection. They were still very close to each other nonetheless.

      “Sorry… we just had a nice date,” Tiffany said and glanced at TaeYeon. He glanced back and they both held in their laughter.

      “I can tell. You both seem pretty engulfed in each other than usual.”

      Tiffany gestured TaeYeon to tell the news to Eunji but TaeYeon argued that she should tell her herself. Eunji had been waiting for her mother to tell her this, after all. “Eunji. Give me your hand. I have something to show you.”

      “Why?” Eunji asked and did as she was told. Tiffany then laid her left hand on hers. “What’s this about?” Eunji asked, still clueless.

      “Look,” Tiffany said, pointing her eyes towards her ring finger.

      As soon as Eunji saw the pink diamond sparkle on her mother’s hands, she dragged her mother’s hand closer to her face. “Oh! Wow, this is so pretty! The pink glow is gorgeous!”

      “Are you seriously more amazed by that?” TaeYeon pouted.

      Eunji blanked out for a moment until she realized what it was really all about. “Oh. OH!” Her eyes jumped back-and-forth to the two, extremely speechless. She laughed hysterically and her parents glanced at each other with a smile seeing this reaction. Eunji was overcome with happiness that she could not stop staring at them as if their skins were glowing brightly. Finally, her parents were engaged!

      But then like a record getting scratched, she eyed them and said, “Wait, does this mean you guys have no limits between you now and would literally just do each other here without even looking around? I don’t really want to start watching , but I guess that might be unavoidable in this house…”

      “What!?” The two were so embarrassed by what she said that Tiffany could not help but just raise her voice at her daughter. “Eunji!”

      “Then just turn your eyes away and run! You don’t have to stay and watch if you are so against it!” TaeYeon argued.

      “I have nothing against it. You’re gonna get married now anyway so do it how many times you want for all I care and give me siblings as much as your hearts desire,” Eunji said. “I’ve already told you guys so many times already that I just don’t want it happening where I can possibly enter or even get an idea. Besides, isn’t it both your responsibility as my parents to protect my eyes? So yeah, please. Get. A. Room. I don’t know what’s so hard!”

      Tiffany saw that her daughter was really growing up and becoming bolder with her words. Even if she wanted to scold her, she would just be fired back with something that might be even more embarrassing. It’s really getting harder to win an argument with her witty daughter.

      “Then sorry for that. We’ll be more careful,” Tiffany sheepishly laughed. “Your dad and I are just so happy that we can all officially be one family!”

 

 

      While Eunji was packing up his bags after a long day of school, Key came up to her and leaned his hands on her table. Eunji greeted him brightly and told him to wait for a moment and he simply nodded. As he waited, he fixed his gaze on her and marveled about how pretty she was.

      “How lucky am I?” he thought and smiled.

      At that moment, a boy from another class knocked on the door of the empty classroom and their heads bobbed up. It was Jonghyun, one of Key’s friends. He hesitated to speak for a moment but then gathered up courage to smile and greet Key from the door “Hey, Key! I-I was just wondering if you’re available today… I know you must be overwhelmed by your first day back in school again, but I’d like for us to spend some time together again… like before.”

      “Who is he, again?” Key whispered to Eunji.

      “He’s Jonghyun. He visited you a while back in the rehabilitation center. He was your best friend.”

      “Best friend? Tch…” Key scoffed and rolled his eyes. His bitter attitude bothered Eunji.  “Sorry, I have plans,” he answered back.

      “Plans?”

      “With Eunji.” Eunji was confounded hearing her name and stared at Key in confusion.

      “Oh. Okay then.” Jonghyun was not pleased with what he heard. He slowly nodded trying to accept what Key said and said nothing else. Ever since Key woke up, he paid no proper attention to anyone but Eunji and Suho. Because of this, rumors floated around that Eunji was brainwashing Key to like her and only her and to hate everybody else. Although the rumor has not gone completely viral yet, it was growing day by day the more Key denied anyone’s company and only hung out with Eunji. Everybody knew that Eunji would never manipulate anyone, but Key’s closest friends, who got jealous every day started to believe otherwise. So before leaving the class, Jonghyun glared at Eunji in annoyance. Eunji could do nothing but pray his growing hatred towards her wouldn’t get worse by the end of the week. She wasn’t doing anything wrong, after all.

       “We don’t have plans, though,” Eunji sighed at Key when Jonghyun was finally out of sight. She stood up and they started to walk out of the classroom.

      “Well, we can just make them, right?”

      “You shouldn’t lie to him about things like that. It’s not very nice considering he’s your best friend. You should try to spend some time with him.”

      “Maybe back then he was my best friend but he’s not anymore. You are,” Key pouted. “Besides, who cares if I lie? I’m gonna spend all day with you anyway so what I said will eventually come true.”

      “Don’t you think you’re being… a little harsh with them?” Eunji timidly asked.

      “Huh? Harsh? They’re the ones who are harsh. They know I lost my memories but they’re still forcing themselves on me.”

      “That’s only because they loved you for a long time. Of course they’d want you to get your memories back.”

      “No, they only want attention,” Key huffed. “They don’t care about me—they only care about themselves. They just want me to remember because they want to shape me into some guy I barely knew. But I’m a different person now and I want to find myself without anyone’s help unless I really want them to help. I have no obligation to fulfill their needs because I don’t know them. For now, all that is true to me is you.”

      Eunji lowered her head and tried not to sigh heavily in front of him. Just when is the right time to tell him that he was acting so stubbornly? If she continues arguing about how he was acting, Key would not understand her and probably start hating her, too. She didn’t want that to happen.

      “So… where do we go today?” he skipped ahead and then turned around to look at her. He was excited to finally relieve some stress after going through his first day of school. He was itching all day to spend it more time with the pretty girl before him.

      However, Eunji could not feel the same way. She was starting to get tired of Key spending almost every minute with her. As much as she wanted to deny it, their friendship was becoming quite harmful because she couldn’t even spend some time with her own friends. She always gave into Key because he was in a bit of a fragile state, but with him getting stronger, it was time to set things right. Even though she loved him and would want him to be happy, she knew his obsession towards her will only get worse if she doesn’t do anything about it. Too bothered by her own thoughts, Eunji breathed deeply trying to think of something to do.

      At that moment, something clicked in her mind. She stopped walking and clenched her backpack tightly. Key was puzzled for a moment by how upset she looked and waited for her to say something. She finally raised her head and said, “Key, can you go home by yourself?”

      “Huh?”

      “I just remembered that I have to run to Xiah Dragon Noodles right now. And I’ll be very… busy.”

      “Really?” Key tilted his head and his shoulders slumped. “Can’t I come with you?”

      “Sorry… I’m gonna be there ‘til 7 PM. You can’t just hang out at the restaurant if you’re not going to order something. I’m sure your parents wouldn’t want you to spend most of your day there.”

      “Well… I guess I… I guess I could come home by myself,” Key whimpered. “But it’s my first day of school, though,” Key suddenly added. “Can’t you at least walk with me home today?”

      “Sorry…,” Eunji wryly smiled. For once she did not feel her heart wrench at the thought of his misery. It must really be the time to distance herself from him for a little bit.

      Before separating in front of the school grounds, Key sighed heavily and hugged her tightly, unable to hide how sad he was to go home lonely.

      “Take care. Don’t tire yourself out, okay?” he waved.

      “You, too. Bye Key.” Eunji gave him one last pat and turned around. When she has walked farther away from him, she mumbled, “…And I love you, Key. I really do. This is for the best.”

 

 

      At the end of the week, it was finally time to tell the world that TaeYeon and Tiffany were engaged. Since they were suddenly both packed with work throughout the week, neither of them could set a proper time to do so. But for this one Saturday, they promised they would finally get it over with and boast to their friends about their love towards each other. It was also very convenient for them that Yuri and SooYoung had once again set up a jamming session on SooYoung’s house that night. Many people who knew Tiffany would be there and they would finally know that she is officially not a maiden anymore. They will also finally reveal how Eunji is really TaeYeon’s child and how their crazy story unfolded.

      As they entered SooYoung’s apartment, Sunny greeted them along with some church members that Tiffany knew very well. YongHwa and SeoHyun with their infant Eunwoo were there, too. Since TaeYeon barely knew anyone that well, he immediately drew to the couple and greeted them.

      “Aigoo! Look at this little munchkin! He’s become cuter since the last time I saw him,” TaeYeon chuckled as he poked the baby on SeoHyun’s arms.

      “He’s been really chatty these days, too,” SeoHyun said.

      “Has he said ‘omma or ‘appa’ yet?”

      “Yes! And I caught it on video, too!” SeoHyun took out her phone and showed him the clip of Eunwoo almost saying “omma.”

      “Aigoo, he’s so cute! It makes me want to have my own…”

      “Why don’t you make your own, then?” YongHwa smirked.

      TaeYeon rolled his eyes and snickered, “I’m working on it.”

      “Oooh, really?” SeoHyun smiled. “You better act quick, Oppa! Don’t you think it’d be cool for your future kid to be really close with Eunwoo?”

      “Oh wow, you’re thinking way ahead of me already.”

      Out of the crowd, Yuri spotted TaeYeon and got confused seeing him there. He went to the smaller man and tapped his shoulder, “Um… what are you doing here?”

      “Huh? What do you mean?” TaeYeon was startled. “Was I not invited again? Gosh, don’t tell me this is just some exclusive gathering for all you saved people and SooYoung doesn’t want me here.”

      “Heyyy c’mon, it’s nothing like that! The doors are open for anyone tonight! It always is,” Yuri laughed as he slapped TaeYeon’s back with a heavy hand that shook the smaller guy’s body. “But I was just wondering… aren’t you supposed to be at work right now?”

      “Work?” TaeYeon was fazed by what he said. It was Saturday and he swore after a busy week that he had the day off today.

      “Jessica told me a while ago that tonight’s the grand opening of the Xiah Dragons Bar. I thought you were gonna be there, too… or did she give you a day off?”

      TaeYeon went blank for a few seconds until the panic crashed on him like a wave. He quickly took out his phone and realized his phone had been on flight mode since morning and he hasn’t been receiving any text or calls because of it. He turned the flight mode off and in a few moments, all the missed calls and text started coming in—all from Jessica, Junsu, Jaejoong, and even Eunji. He was out with Tiffany all day that he had totally forgotten about the important opening of the Xiah Dragons Bar.

      “Oh no… oh no… they’re gonna kill me!”

      “Ooohhhhh man,” Yuri sighed, foreseeing his wife exploding at TaeYeon.

      TaeYeon searched the home and when he reached Tiffany, he nudged her and said, “Hey, I gotta go. I totally forgot about the opening of Xiah Dragons Bar. As soon as it finishes, I’ll come back to you.”

      Before he took off, Tiffany gripped his arm and said, “Wait, what about us? You promised we were going to reveal our engagement today.”

      “We’ll have to do it tomorrow. I can’t do it tonight.”

      “But this is the perfect night to do it. Everyone I know is pretty much here.”

      “There will be other days, Tiffany, I promise.” He kissed Tiffany on her cheek and left.

      Tiffany just stood there unable to comprehend what just happened. They have been looking forward to this night to declare their engagement to everyone, but he left just like that? How come he didn’t know the opening of Xiah Dragons Bar was going to be at this exact same time? Did it really just slip his mind? Either way, why did he choose to break his promise over that? Although it was work, his boss was only Jessica, her best friend who was as close to her as a sister. If he asked her to be excused for tonight, she probably would’ve complied.

***

      As everyone jammed away to SooYoung’s beats, Tiffany sneaked into the kitchen and sat there dejectedly. Although Tiffany tried her hardest to ignore the fact that TaeYeon just broke his promise a while ago, she couldn’t fully enjoy the night even though she was surrounded with many of her friends. She could not think of anything else but the engagement news that it mentally stressed her out. All she ever wanted tonight was to tell all her friends that she was engaged and to tell of their crazy story while holding TaeYeon’s hand, but there’s nothing to hold now but an empty cup. With frustration taking over, even the apple juice that she drank tasted bittersweet like alcohol.

      While everyone was enjoying themselves laughing and singing the overly sung Oceans with heavy English-Korean accents, Yuri put his guitar down and headed to the kitchen to get some water. As soon as he saw Tiffany all alone by herself absentmindedly twirling a paper cup, he closed the door behind him to drown out everyone’s noise. He greeted her and then sat in front of her.

      “What are you doing here sulking alone by yourself?” Yuri asked.

      “Oh, me? I’m just taking a breather,” Tiffany tried to casually say. “I’ve used my voice to much today.”

      Yuri found her voice awkwardly wavering and it made him chuckle. What she said was an obvious lie. “You’re not the kind of person to get tired so easily, though, especially if it’s about singing and being around people. That’s something TaeYeon would say. I guess hanging around TaeYeon is making you like that now?”

      “Ahahaha…,” Tiffany laughed with no energy and it just faded out into an awkward silence. She poured more juice on her cup and buried her face behind it.

      Yuri observed her actions and let the silence take over for a while. When she put the cup down, he said, “You obviously haven’t been the brightest tonight. Something must be bothering you. Care to tell me? They’re all singing Oceans like drunk men right now and you’re not even reacting. You love singing that song!”

      Tiffany met his gaze for a while and immediately gave in. Yuri knew her too well. She tiredly rested her head on her hands and huffed, “I know… it’s just… TaeYeon and I were supposed to do something tonight.”

      “Hm? Sounds hot,” Yuri smirked as he raised his eyebrows.

      Tiffany lazily glared at him and sighed, “It’s nothing like that.”

      “Then…,” Yuri wondered for a moment and then clapped his hands remembering how much TaeYeon panicked finding out he was supposed to be at the opening of Xiah Dragons Bar. “Ah! I take it he chose work over you, didn’t he?”

      “Yup,” she huffed tiredly. “Apparently the opening of Xiah Dragons Bar was tonight and he didn’t even remember.” Tiffany vented, “How could he suddenly be so bad at managing his schedule?  I swear, I told him that this Saturday—THIS SATURDAY—we will finally declare our engagement to everybody. I mean I know we are getting busier with our jobs, but for him to not ask Jessica for a day off for this was ridiculous and I… ugh. I just don’t get it.”

      “Wait… Engaged? Woah, really? You guys are finally engaged?! Congratulations!” Yuri’s jaw dropped. Tiffany nodded with a frustrated sigh.

      “You don’t seem to be too happy,” Yuri laughed.

      “It’s like I’m not a priority to him just because he was hired to the new business. It must be his rising popularity around town. He probably thinks it’s more important to play for people who expect things from him than be with me. I’m just one person after all.”

      “Well aren’t we still talking about the same guy who rejected girls over music during high-school? He’s still so serious about his own work. It sounds like he really hasn’t changed much… But c’mon, Fany. I don’t think he thinks you’re not as important as his work. That’s too much of an overreaction, don’t you think?”

      “But it’s so frustrating, and his timing is crazy, I tell you!” Tiffany ranted on. “I just can’t understand how his mind works sometimes. One day he’s so organized, the next, his mind is chaotic.”

      “Aww, Fany-ah, he’s maybe just trying to balance you and his own interest, and we both know he’s not the biggest romantic around, but he does try pretty hard,” Yuri chuckled. “He also doesn’t have the best brain in the block so why don’t you cut him some slack? Besides, are you really so upset just because you couldn’t declare your engagement with him tonight? You can always do a creative engagement and post it on Facebook. It’s a popular thing these days. Your friends all around the world—not just here—would know about it.”

      “Still… I wanted it to be a special day—not just a special post or video, or whatever. Don’t you remember how SooYoung proposed to Sunny? That night was fun.”

      “Aigoo! There you are again being jealous and comparing yourself to others! Besides, you should worry more about the wedding, not the engagement declaration. If you ask me, declaring the engagement or marriage is not that important. I mean it is still important in their own way, but what happens after—how you love and understand each other—is much more important and it is going to be a strong declaration to everyone, and it needs no words.”

      “Still, he promised me tonight,” Tiffany pouted. “I anticipated declaring it to everyone so much, you know?

      “Hm…,” Yuri wondered, “did you really anticipate it that much? Or are you just pissed that he broke his promise?”

      Tiffany avoided his gaze realizing what really worked her up. She hung her head low and whimpered, “I guess it’s more like that.”

      “Ahh… early couple problems,” Yuri leaned back on his chair and laughed. “Don’t get too upset about it and let it go for now. I’m sure situations will get worse deeper in the relationship.”

      “And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” she grumbled.

      “I’m just being realistic. Since you guys are just starting off, all your flaws are gonna start surfacing and it’s gonna be a challenge to deal with. There will be a lot of fights or times like this, I’m sure. So if it’s just a small problem, just let it go and trust and understand each other. It’ll help you better resolve the bigger problems. You don’t want to learn that the hard way.”

 

 

3 WEEKS LATER

 

      Although things were not the same as it was a few months ago, Key was quickly relearning things on his own. Memories concerning family were slowly being puzzled back together but he still could not recall one friend other than Eunji. Because of that, all that he ever wanted to hang out with was her and her only. His old friends were getting upset the more this went on but he didn’t care at all. He was proud to have her and only her as his friend. She had a good heart, a good voice, and a pretty face, too. Having her for himself made him feel like the happiest boy on Earth.

      However, what he didn’t know was that Eunji had been carefully managing their time together. Since she didn’t want bad rumors to float around about them, she gave up a lot of time spent with him after school by working all afternoon at Xiah Dragon Noodles to keep herself busy. She tries not to hang around him too much during lunch break and denies his invitations to be with him every weekend. She even asks Chorong and Bomi to make plans with her so that she could avoid spending all the time with him.

      So far, Key hasn’t noticed that she was doing these things to him intentionally, but he was getting sadder the less they spent time together. He figured he had to do something to make her want to spend more time with him. He just couldn’t take hearing her say she had to do something else than be with him. Can’t she say yes more than she says no?

      Finally, one afternoon right after school, as they were both walking home with hands tightly clasped together, he found a perfect opportunity. With their hands lightly swaying with a lively rhythm and the breeze less freezing than it was for the past few days, he knew the time was now. Spring was right around the corner and he wants to let their love bloom with the season.

      Eunji, on the other hand, had her mind focused on his hand tightly intertwined with hers. It was a strange yet pleasing sight to finally see this before her. It was just during last year’s autumn when Key casually held hands with her all day. She remembered wanting to let go because of the uncomfortable gesture since she was not fond of him, but now, things have surely changed. If she could hold hands with him ‘til the ends of time, she would. But like an unexpected breeze, she felt this precious moment could vanish one of these days. She could only stare at it hopelessly knowing how tiring it was getting to keep up with him.

      “Can I ask you something?” Key suddenly spoke, breaking her train of thoughts.

      “Sure. What is it?”

      “That song… The one you and your friends sang in the restaurant the first time I went; Taemin said it was written by you?”

      “Oh? Fairytale Love? I co-wrote it or something like that. My dad was the one who wrote most of it.”

      “So you did write it… like it was also your words in a way,” Key said.

      “Yeah, I guess you could say that,” Eunji nodded. “Why do you ask?”

      “I’ve just been thinking about the lyrics of the ending. I couldn’t get it